Tack on Russell Crowe, a native of New Zealand, for best actor in "A Beautiful Mind" and Australia's Nicole Kidman for best actress in "Moulin Rouge" to demonstrate how the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has matured over the years.

The nomination of Robert Altman ("Gosford Park") for best director at 76, shatters the age record for directors in an Oscar race.

Two of the nominees for best director this year are foreign born: Peter Jackson ("Rings") is a native of New Zealand and Ridley Scott ("Black Hawk Down") is a Brit.

The diversification of nominees in national origin, age, ethnicity and movie genre demonstrates the growth and maturity of the academy since its first Oscar presentations in 1927/28 when "Wings" won the award for best picture.

In the intervening years the Academy Awards has become the best known, most

highly publicized awards around the globe.

Whether or not the televised nose counts are accurate -- 1 billion viewers -- the Oscar show is TV's most widely watched single event.

The annual hullabaloo has become a focus of international attention, never mind that the awards also are a significant source of movie income.

They might even be applauded as an example of capitalism at its most effective and efficient.

In any event, movies are America's most popular export, creating an international culture that is comprehensible to all peoples and nations.

Their global popularity suggests more people are aware of Julia Roberts than have heard of Joan of Arc; Tom Cruise is more familiar to the planet's populace than, say, George W. Bush.

Movie stars have become world celebrities because their faces are seen, their voices heard repeatedly on screens in virtually every nation on Earth.

So confident is the academy of the familiarity of movies that it has issued an Oscar Quiz.

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